Can China make it rain or shine? In any case, that is what the country is trying to do in several provinces along the Yangtze River in the center of the country. Given the drought currently affecting China, Hubei province is the latest to announce its participation in “cloud seeding” operations on Wednesday, reports the US channel CNN.
To implement this technique, Chinese aircraft use silver iodide, which is launched into the clouds by small cylindrical projectiles the size of a cigarette. The introduction of chemicals should allow the droplets and ice crystals that form clouds to grow, thus facilitating precipitation.
However, the results of these operations remain mixed at the moment. The fault lies in the too thin layer of clouds over the river in recent days.
A method already used in China
Cloud seeding has already been used in the past in China, as early as the 1940s, according to France 24.
The country has the world’s largest weather modification program and used it in 2008, for example, to force rain just before the Beijing Olympics and keep the weather dry during the event.
Other countries, such as the United States, Russia or the United Arab Emirates have already used these processes in the past. They can also be implemented to reduce the impact of hailstorms, or to control part of the snowfall in winter.
The south of the country faces drought since June
Recent attempts to make it rain aim to feed the Yangtze River. China’s longest river has dried up completely in places. Like several countries like France and the UK, China is experiencing a particularly dry summer.
In Hubei province, for example, at least 150,000 people have difficulty accessing clean water. 400,000 hectares of crops were also damaged by high temperatures and lack of rainfall.
The drought of the rivers also affects the production of hydroelectric energy. Factories in Sichuan province had to close to deal with power outages. On Tuesday, the Chinese government announced that the Three Gorges Dam, the country’s largest, would increase output.
Source: BFM TV
